Folding camera support



Nov. 9, 1948. .D, G. LEWIS 2,453,442

FOLDING CAMERA SUPPORT,

, Filed Dec. 23, 1946 Patented Nov. 9, 1943 tense 142* FGhDENGiAMERA sneeon'n I .Defl G- lis is Sunn vale el 't Application December 23, 1946, Seri'wl No. 718N843 This; invent-ion) relates tiara. fioidin'g: camera-sum port which is capable 0t beire eompaotly fLOldQd togethenin. a mannersuitable-fen carrying in the pocket or: in; a. handbag when not. use,. and whicn.is,.: adapted to be quickly. and easily set up sjo= as; to supportv a camera. at: difierent angles and, eleyation as: occasion. requires.

impontant object on nm-inventionis. to pnonidea: cameras supporttheo above character comprising: a. pair of g roundeengagmg feet and at clameraesuppont-ingsstrut bot-hr mounted for move;- mentin planes at; righteangleszuo eachsothen from: at folded. position: in: which the feet: and strut: lie in. substantialparaller closely spaced relation: to set up; position in: which. the feet. and? strut. are singularly spread a art. i

-A nother objectv of my invention: isuto. proniole in a camera supportcofthe=abovecharaeter means for yieldingly maintaining? the; feet in: spreadapart relation whentthe support is: set-.upi for use,- i said: support. being: so constructed: and arrangedthatwhen the pantstare folded together: the. feet are automatically held. in collapsedi position;

Still: another object of my inuention is to pro. vide: a. camera support: of the. above character comprising an; anchor: blockzhavingz a: pair of feet pivotedut-heretorfor. movement.- about ventical. axes into and. cut oil parallelr. closely spaced nelation, arstrut pivoted atits. lower-end to the: anchor block for movement: aboutiat horizontal:. axis into and outer, parallelt closely spaced. relation with; the feet andra. camera-supportin bracket pivoted: to heunn end o thee ten f r ew ng nssmover ment about. a, horizontal: axis, into; and: out; of. alignment with; the endlof the stru-t',.. the; construction and arrangement port being; suoh thatby'adjusting the-strut and the bracket. relative to each other about their: pivotithe e1evetior l and, suigle of the: camera in a vertical planets likewise adjustable to: the. dc..- sired ;;ositionv for talginga picture:

Quiet ehiectsen ed en ae s wi l: be ane r n from. the following: detailed. descriptiomof a prefetredembodin ent of the invention reference e nahadt h aee xed n winsin w ic i F gi Iris t side -W 0f fo d n amer support-showing themanner inwhieh-the camera is. mounted theneon; v

Eigure 2. is.- an end view of the. support; of

Figure. 3. is at detailwiew,

clampin eeh i m;

F gu e e is a V ew n. tr n e se t u se o aken -the ens-1.

oi the: camera. bracket of the; camenas supe 6 Qlaini (c1. 248-.l65)

"'3 transect the slot: I-a.

:wideiy: spaced-apart; position,

21 Figure 5 is a transver e cross-sectionalyview oithe-camera supporttakenon line 5 4; of. Fig. 1' showing the spring; means, for urging. the feet. apant;

Figure; 6' is; a transverse cross-sectional; view. of? the camera. support. showing another. term. of. spring, arrangement; in the; spread-apant position of the feet; and: r

Eigure; 7. is. a crosseseotionali View similar to: Fig. 61 but. showing: fleet closed: together; The folding camera support. shown: im Figs- 1 through 5:.of the: drawing comprises generafly an anchor block '5, a. pair: of feet; 2. pivotally: mounted on the anchor block: so asxto; swing. in: a. horizontal. plane, a. stunt it pivoted at its lower; end: 170515116 anchor block. for: swinging: movement in: at vertical plane, andya camera-supporting bracket 4 pivots-11y mounted upon the upper end of: the strut for: angular adjustment in a vertical plane.v i 1 The fieeti z' atone .end' snugly. fit within a slot l'a' out withinaventical face of the anchor block 23 and are independentlf pivoted upon pins 5- vertically secured in: the anchor block so as to The feet 2. are of such length as: to extend a substantial distance beyond the slot and are movable from: closely spaced panallel position, which is their position when the camera support is: collapsed; to relatively which is their p05 sition when the" camera support is set up for use. For urging" the feet to: spaced-apart position there is interposed between the feet a coiicornpnession spring 6; the ends of the spring seating within. sockets 60 formed inthe feet somewhat inadvance "(ii e. outwardly of the slot) of the pivot pins 5. The ends ofthe feet adjacent the pivot pins:- abut the end wall lb" of the slot and Serve as'stops for-limiting the spread of the fee Extending along the top ot the anchonblock is a vertically upstanding rib- I and the lower end of the-strut 3= ishifurcated; as indicated" at, so as to. straddle thisribr A pin 8 passes through aligned holes in the-rib and the bifurcated end of 'the 'stnut constituting a pivotal mountingfor' the strut. One'end: of the pin 8 1's headed, as=indicated at am, whil'e its other end is extended and pnovicled with screw-threads to receive a, clamping nut9 having avhandle 9a integrally formed there with. Thus by turning the handle llathe bi fun catedsidesof'the strut'ere drawn into tight frictionali engagement with the sides of the rib to hold: the: strut in the desired position of pivotal adjustment; when: the camera support is col- 55 latpseditherstrut.3 'wii1 be-l'owere-d into close pairallel relation to the feet 12 at which time two laterally spaced pegs III will fit into sockets "la in the feet to maintain the feet in parallel relation and prevent the accidental spreading thereof.

The upper end of the strut is bifurcated in a manner similar to its lower end so as to receive the eye portion of an eyebolt l l which constitutes the camera supporting bracket 4. A headed pin .IZ passes through the opening in the eyebolt and through aligned holes in the bifurcated end of the strut to provide a pivotal connection for the bracket. One end of the pin is extended and screw-threaded to receive a clamping nut l3 having a handle portion Hit. By turning the handle 13a the side walls of the bifurcated upper end of the strut may be compressed into binding engagement with the eyebolt to hold the latter in its desired position of pivotal adjustment.

The shank of the eye-bolt projects beyond the recess confining the head of the eyebolt and is l threaded to screw into a socket S of a camera C. A look nut M is associated with the threaded shank of the eyebolt which nut when the camera is associated with the bracket is turned up tight against the camera to hold the camera rigidly to the bracket after its position has been adj'usted. When the camera support is folded together the eyebolt is turned so as to extend in alignment with the end of the strut and thus avoid obstructing the movement of the strut to fully collapsed position.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that when the camera support is folded together the feet 2 and strut 3 will lie close together in parallel relation so that the support will occupy a minimum amount of space and permit it to be conveniently carried in the pocket or in a handbag. When the support is to be set up, the strut is swung to upright position which, upon withdrawal of the pegs ill from the sockets Illa,

allows the feet to swing apart under the thrust of the compression spring 6. The camera C being associated with the bracket 4, the strut is swung so as to bring the camera to the desired elevation and then clamped in place by the handle 9a. Next the bracket 4 is adjusted and clamped by the handle [3a. to fix the position of the camera relative to the perpendicular. In the taking of angle shots, the pivotal mounting of the bracket 4, as well as the threaded mounting of the camera on the eyebolt I l, allows for a wide scope of angular adjustment relative to both vertical and horizontal planes.

Rubber pads I5 are mounted upon the anchor block I and on the outer ends of the feet 2 to provide good frictional engagement with hard surfaces, such as table tops or stone ledges.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and '7, the pegs l and sockets Illa are omitted and a coil spring I6 (corresponding to the spring 6 of the embodiment previously described) is mounted in over-center relation to the pivotpins the arrangement being such that when the feet 2 are spread apart the spring; exerts a thrust on the feet in a direction tending to maintain the feet in spaced-apart relation (see Fig. 5) but when the feet are closed together the spring buckles inwardly so as to exert a thrust in the opposite direction to maintain the feet in closed position (Fig. 7)

The anchor block feet and strut are preferably made of aluminum or other light metal to reduce the weight, although they may be made of 'wood, plastic or other materials if so desired.

The invention is capable of beingembodied. in

anchor block for movement in a vertical plane,

said feet and strut being adapted, to be swung from parallel closely spaced position to angularly spaced-apart position relative to each other, spring means biasing said feet to spaced-apart position, a camera-supporting bracket pivoted to the other end of said strut for movement in a vertical plane and an interengaging pin-and-socket connection between the strut'and feet for preventing pivotal movement of the feet when the support is in folded condition.

2. A folding camera support comprising an anchor block, a pair of feet pivotally and inde-' pendently mounted upon the anchor block for movement in a horizontal plane, a strut pivoted at one end to the anchor block formovement in a vertical plane, said feet and strut being adapted to be swung from parallel closely spaced position to angularly spaced-apart position relative to each other, a camera-supporting bracket pivoted to the other end of said strut for movement in a vertical plane and a springinterposed between said feet and located in over-centerrelation to their pivotal connections with the anchor block, said spring exerting pressure to automat- V ically maintain said feet in either their parallel or angularly spaced-apart positions.

3. A folding camera support comprising an' anchor block having a slot in a vertical face thereof, a pair of feet having their ends snugly interfitting and pivoted within said slot for movement I in a common horizontal plane, a strut pivoted at one end to said anchor block for movement in a vertical plane, said feet and strut being adapted to be swung from parallel closely spaced position to angularly spaced-apart position relative toeach other, a camera-supporting bracketpivoted to the other end of said strut for movement in a vertical plane into and out of alignment with the end of said strut and a spring interposed between said feet and located in over-center rela tion'to their pivotal connections'with the anchor block, said spring exerting pressure to automatically maintain said feet in either their parallel or angularly spaced-apart positions.

4. A folding camera support comprising an anchor block, a pair of feet pivotally mounted upon the anchor block for movement in a hori-; zontal plane, a strut pivoted at one end to the anchor block for movement in a vertical plane, said feet and strut being adapted to be swung from parallel closely spaced position to angularlv spaced-apart position relative toeaLch other and,

a camera-supporting bracket pivoted to the other end of said strut for movement in a vertical plane, said bracket comprising aneye-b'olt having its eye portion received within an open-ended slot in the end of the strut and its threaded shank projecting from said slot for coupling to a camera, a pin extending transversely of the slot and through the eye of the eye-bolt and clamping means mounted upon the pin for compressing the sides of the slot into' frictional engagement with the eye portion of the eye-bolt for maintaining the bracket in adjusted position.

5. A folding camera support comprising an anchor block, a pairof feet pivotally mounted upon the anchor block for movement in ahorizontal plane, a strut pivoted at one end to the anchor block for movement in a vertical plane, said pivotal mounting for the strut comprising a pin supported in the anchor block and extending transversely of the strut, clamping means upon the pin for frictionally maintaining the strut at dilferent angular positions of adjustment about its pivot, said feet and strut being adapted to be swung from parallel closely spaced position to angularly spaced-apart position relative to each other and a camera-supporting bracket pivoted to the other end of said strut, said bracket comprising an eye-bolt having its eye portion pivotally afiixed to the strut and its threaded shank projecting from the strut for coupling to a camera, a pin extending transversely of the strut and through the eye of the eye-b01t and clamping means mounted upon the pin for holding the strut in frictional engagement with the eye portion of the eye-bolt for maintaining the bracket in any adjusted position. i

6. A folding camera anchor block, a pair of upon the anchor block for movement in a horizontal plane, a strut pivoted at one end to the anchor block for movement in a vertical plane, said pivotal mounting for the strut comprising a support comprising an feet pivotall mounted pin supported in the anchor block and extending transversely of the strut, clamping means upon the pin for frictionally' maintaining the strut at different angular positions of adjustment about its pivot, said feet and strut being adapted to be swung from parallel closely spaced position to angularly spaced-apart position relative to each other and a camera-supporting bracket pivoted to the other end of said strut, said bracket comprising an eye-bolt having its eye portion pivotally affixed to the strut and its threaded shank projecting from the strut for coupling to a camera, means for holding the camera for angular adjustment throughout a range of 360 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: i

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 639,120 Webster Dec. 12,1899 856,610 Steindorf June 11, 1907 1,464,279 Hindley Aug. 7,1923

degrees about r the axis of the shank of said eye-bolt, a pin ex- 

